


You Take My Breath Away

by LadyMD, No_longer_lurking



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), F/M, Jon and Sansa Are Not Related
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 09:02:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12980691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMD/pseuds/LadyMD, https://archiveofourown.org/users/No_longer_lurking/pseuds/No_longer_lurking
Summary: Jon Snow returns from the Wall and joins the Kings Landing Fire Department. He also returns to longing for his best friend Robb's sister Sansa.  Sansa is a nurse, and the Emergency Medical System Coordinator for the Fire Department - will sparks fly?Collaboration inspired by LadyMD's Saving Jon Snow & other extreme sports series.Title & mood of work inspired by Queen's You Take My Breath Away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_wLNqUz7pM Listen to understand tone of story.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [You can take my breath away](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11772489) by [LadyMD](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMD/pseuds/LadyMD). 
  * Inspired by [You can take my breath away](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11772489) by [LadyMD](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMD/pseuds/LadyMD). 



> A gift for my friend LadyMD. We started this thread on our super-secret email, and somehow I just couldn't let it die. I don't want you to be blamed for my writing, but I wanted to give your proper attribution. I can always delete if you wish. 
> 
> Since I know you are so busy, I compiled all the various notes we sent and tried my hand at writing my very first fanfic. Good lord woman, what have you done to me? ;) 
> 
> Alas, I am a storyteller and not a writer. I have probably veered far from the original outline, but the story demanded that it be told in this way. I am sure that I have also somehow butchered tags, #onlyslightlysorry
> 
> I wanted to honor the survivor in Sansa and the bravery of everyday heroes such as doctors, nurses, fireman, and paramedics.
> 
> The normal disclaimers apply, I do not own any rights to these characters inspired by the works of GRRM and D&D.

_Look into my eyes and you'll see I'm the only one_  
_You've captured my love, stolen my heart, changed my life_  
_Every time you make a move you destroy my mind_  
_And the way you touch, I lose control and shiver deep inside_  
_You take my breath away (Queen, A Day At The Races)_

**You’re My Best Friend (Jon)**

Jon Snow built a Guinness as he listened to his friends Tormond and Sam discuss their anticipation of the lottery results to become a recruit for Kings Landing Fire Department (KLFD). The three were amongst 18,000 people who took the test in September; the 14,986 who passed were anxiously waiting to see who would make the 120 recruits for the new class. The letters were due out any day now, and Jon was hopeful that his medic experience in the Knight’s Watch would give him an edge on the competition.

Jon, Tormond, and Sam had met at the Wall, an all three of them had decided not to take the vows that would keep them there longer, but left after their initial six year commitment. Tormond was already a licensed paramedic, so when the trio arrived back in the city, they decided to take the exam for the fire department so that they could continue being brothers. This time preventing and fighting fires as opposed to watching the wall for the long dormant Others.

The Others had been defeated centuries ago by the King in the North, who with his Red Wolf Queen conquered not only the supernatural, but also the power-hungry mad queens who sought to subjugate instead of rule. King Jon and Queen Sansa’s benevolent rule empowered the individual regions of the previous seven kingdoms, but one of their staunchest mandates was that the rebuilt Wall should always be guarded so that the threat would not be forgotten and lost. Although it sounded improbable that the ancient threat would manifest in 2017; Jon considered it part of his heritage to do his rotation watching the wall, as he and his best friend Robb Stark were part of the lineage of the King and Queen in the North.

Robb strolled into the pub where Jon was currently working as bartender while he awaited the lottery results.

“I’ll have a black and tan.”

Robb was currently a Battalion Chief for the north side of the city; his father Ned Stark was Fire Commissioner. Although he had been a friend to the Stark family for years, Jon knew that KLFD had evolved over the past thirty years, so it was no longer a “good ole boys club”, where the sons of the north side fire chiefs were automatically recruited. The lottery system was fair, and he just hoped that his exam scores, his fitness test results, and his background were enough to get him in.

Jon greeted his friend with a manly shake and started to work on his drink. “Hello Robb, how’s it going? How’s Talisa doing in her rotation?”

 Talisa Stark was Robb’s wife; she was a fourth year medical student finishing her clerkship years by rotating through the various specialties.Talisa was from the Philippines, and said that her unique name was given to her by her mother who loved the old stories of a medieval heroine who had chosen to go into the medical arts instead of pursuing dancing and sewing.

“Doing good. Talisa just started an eight-week rotation in emergency medicine, and then she will be doing a four-week EMS rotation as well. Who knows, maybe we will get to see her in the field then.”

“You boys obsessing about the lottery?” Rob asked the duo sitting at the bar.

 “Different for you young wolf, your whole family has been on KLFD since its inception” Tormond declared, “I bet the Red Wolf Queen herself handed one of you Starks your commission back in the dark ages.”

Jon chuckled at that, but Sam averted his eyes – if he made it on the force, he did not want one of the Chiefs to think of him badly.

Robb grinned “Not quite. I think the closest we may have come to that action is when my baby sister Sansa crowned Jon as her knight. She’s the princess in our family.”

Jon felt like he was 13 again, and was sure his face was probably beet red. Jon had always considered Robb’s other sister, Arya, like the sister he never had, but he just couldn’t with Sansa.

 Jon and Robb had been friends since they were ten, and Jon could still remember his first view of Sansa. Even at seven, she had been stunning, and he had always been somewhat tongue-tied around the auburn hair beauty.

 When they were in high school, Jon had worked hard to hide his growing lust for Robb’s sister. It wasn’t his fault really. Sansa had grown even more beautiful over the years. Watching her walk around school in her cheerleading uniform had been both exquisite torture and epic fantasy inducing. Jon squirmed a little thinking about how many times he had pleasured himself thinking of her.  

 “You let a Knight’s Watch Man near your baby sister?” Tormond could not believe that Robb was so calm.

 “We were kids. Besides, have you ever met anyone more honorable than Jon Snow?” queried Robb. “I guess if he ever really spoke to her, I might take it more seriously.”

 “Actually, it might be a relief for the whole family if she hung out with you, as Sansa has had some spectacularly bad taste in men in the past.”

 The doors to the bar opened and two women strolled in.

 “Ah ha, speak of the devils” said Robb. “In walk my wife and my sister.”

 Tormond took one look at the stunning Asian beauty and her companion, and then belted out a laugh.   “What is it with you and redheads man” he chortled to Jon. “If you liked men, you would be after my ginger ass.”

 “We are not discussing Ygritte in front of Sansa – that’s old news,” warned Jon.

 Robb got up and escorted the ladies to the bar. “Talisa, this is my old pal Jon Snow, I know that you have heard so much about him, and here he is in the flesh.”

 Talisa gave Jon a hug. “It’s great to finally meet you Jon. I am sorry that you couldn’t be at the wedding. I asked if Robb wanted to wait for you to come back to be his best man, but he said he was too impatient for me to be his bride.”

 “I can understand why. He is a lucky man to have a smart AND beautiful woman in his life.”

 “Of course, you remember Sansa”.

 

Damn. Seven. Fucking. Hells. The woman had gotten even more gorgeous in the past six years. She took his breath away.

 “Hello Sansa”.

 “Hey Jon, it’s great to see you back again.”

 After introducing Tormond and Sam, Jon quickly got drinks for both women, and the group sat around the corner of the bar chatting.

 “How is emergency medicine Talisa?” Jon asked.

 “The amount of people who have true emergencies is rarer than you might think. I like being able to help people who have something that needs urgent attention, or seeing people who need referrals to public health as they need continued care. I sometimes get frustrated when patients think that the ED is first come, first serve.”

 “We are just a bevy of first responders around this bar, Fire Chief, EMS Coordinator, ED MD – in the making – and three wannabees,” Robb observed.

 Sansa sipped on her gin martini, “I heard you’re all applying to be candidates at the Fire Academy. Best of luck.”

 “He he,” Talisa chuckled into her chardonnay. “Sorry, I just realized that with Robb being a Battalion Chief and Sansa the EMS System Coordinator at King’s Landing Hospital, you will have to “make a hole” if either of them enters a hallway when you are there.”

 Sam asked, “What does that mean?”

 “You will need to stand with your back to the wall while they walk past. What do you say Robb, will you stand at attention and let me inspect you while I am on my EMS rotation?” Talisa raised her eyebrows suggestively.

 “Battalion Chiefs are exempt, it is just the candidates, but I like the way you think.” Rob answered with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “You will all have to excuse me, I think that I need to take my wife home so that we can practice…protocol.”

 Jon was grateful for the laughter and diversion that their exit caused, as he was once again reliving his 13-year old self; this time trying to will away the beginning of an erection from imagining Sansa “inspecting” him up against a wall.

 “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle” Sansa winked at him – and then he was lost in her brilliant blue gaze.

 As Jon was struggling for something coherent to say, the bar door opened again and a tall blond woman came in and waved to Sansa.

 Sansa grabbed her drink and went to meet her friend, “See you around Jon.”

 “You are such a goner.” Sam could just shake his head in male support as the trio watched Sansa’s retreating form. “And she’s your best friend’s sister – good luck.”

 

 

**These Are the Days of Our Lives (Sansa)**

Jon Snow.

 Gods.

 He was still a handsome devil, with that sexy scruff of a beard, delicious man-bun and six-pack abs that Sansa could discern through his Henley. Her fingers itched to touch all of it and all of him. Yummy.

 Sansa tried to compose herself as she went over to meet Brienne. Had she really winked at him? It must have been the gin.

Sansa had a crush on Jon most of her teen years, but he would barely ever look her in the eyes, let alone speak to her. She had always envied how easily Jon had gotten along with her sister.

 So many years and so many things had passed since she last saw him, and her friend/savior Brienne had helped her through the worst of it.

 Brienne was a Special Victims Unit officer for the King’s Landing Police Department. She had seen Sansa out one night in Ramsey’s company, and her perception that Ramsey was being physically abusive was correct.

 Ramsey was a police officer, and had been charming in the beginning of their relationship. A few months into dating, he started to ask Sansa not to spend so much time with her friends or family. After that, he had asked that she change her work hours so that they could work on their relationship. It had escalated to him grabbing her arms, trying to control her physically from going places, and demanding sex when she wasn’t in the mood. When Brienne had stopped her that night at the KLPD ball and asked if Sansa needed help getting away from Ramsey, Sansa had been mortified. She was in health care, she took care of other people, how did it get to the point where it was? It was the gradual onset of abuses, so subtle in their escalation that she had not noticed until someone else pointed it out to her.

 That had been two years ago, and now both women spent time at a women’s support group for victims of sexual abuse; hoping to help other women to find their way back to the strong independent selves that should live inside them all.

 Sansa greeted Brienne with a hug and they both settled in with their drinks. “I was just reflecting how lucky I am to have met you when I did. If you had not intervened, I don’t know how bad it would have gotten with Ramsey before I realized that I was being abused. So thank you again for rescuing me.”

 “Of course.” Brienne answered. “You know it is really just pay –back, or pay-it-forward from Jaime’s rescuing me”.  

 “Tell me that story again, I love hearing about real-life heroes. ”

 “I was a rookie, and it was one of my first cases. I went to an apartment to follow up on a complaint we had, someone had sent an anonymous tip that there was some sex trafficking in the building. My partner was out sick that day, and I figured that I could interview someone without back up. Big mistake. When I knocked on the door, I was pulled in at knife point.” Brienne started the story.

 “As the gods would have it, there was also a call placed to EMS for someone in the same building. Jaime was there as a paramedic, and saw me being pulled in. He used his equipment to bust in the door prior to my actually being raped. Nerves in his arm were severed in the knife fight with the mobster; and even after multiple surgeries, he still has some deficits to his right arm from that day.”

 Brienne went on: “I was horrified that his arm was so mangled, and in tears due to the trauma we both went through. He looked at me with those gorgeous green eyes of his and told me that it was okay, he only rescued maidens. I tried to tell him that I was not an actual maiden, but he said that as a rookie cop - I qualified.”

 Sansa learned that after the event, Jaime had taken the exam to be a paramedic field chief, and transitioned into paramedic education. Although he had minor physical limitations due to his injuries, he was an excellent teacher and role model. He had since worked his way up to the prestigious role of Deputy Chief Paramedic – a deserved distinction appointed to him by Sansa’s father.

 “It is so amazing to see the way Jaime looks at you – with that gleam in his beautiful eyes. He is so clearly “besotted” with you – it makes me sigh. Because hey, I am a female with a pulse.”

 Brienne grinned, “It’s a response I get often from other females. I just smile and know that at the end of the day, he comes home to Tommen, Myrcella, and I – and mine is the only bed he wants to be in.”

 “I am so happy for you Brienne, and I hope that one day, I can be the person who is inspiring other survivors with my story.” Sansa could only dream of a love like that – it seemed like a surreal, remote possibility. “Until that time, these are my days, and I will be grateful for them.”

 “Holy Seven Hells” they heard Jon scream from behind the bar.

 He looked over at Sansa and vaulted over the bar.

 “I got in! We all did – we are going to be starting at the Fire Academy on the 15th.”

 Jon strode over to Brienne and Sansa’s table – beaming from ear to ear.

 “Congratulations Jon, I am..” Sansa stopped mid sentence as Jon plucked her out of her chair and stroked her cheek with his index finger.

 “Sansa Stark, I have wanted to kiss you since I was about ten years old. Now nearly 20 years later, and it still makes me nervous to ask, but I am so happy about getting in, and equally happy about being near you. So – may I kiss you senseless?”

 “Yes please”.

 When Jon’s breath began to mingle with hers, Sansa was appreciative, as she seemed to have forgotten how to breathe on her own. She had imagined this moment for so long.

 Perfection in a kiss that was the most passionate, the most pure. A perfect blend of lips and tongue, that had her toes curling, moaning just a little, and definitely rubbing her pelvis up against Jon’s.

 Sansa heard Tormond’s wolf calls from the bar, and regretfully disengaged from The Kiss.

 Brienne looked on approvingly.

 Maybe SOME things were not such a remote possibility.

 Sansa put her forehead against Jon’s; “Perhaps we should go someplace where we can… practice protocol.”

 “As you wish, princess. As you wish.”


	2. The Hustle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Hustle up the Hightower is inspired by an actual charity event https://lungchicago.org/specialevents/hustle-up-the-hancock/hustle-event-details/
> 
> Yes, I know that the Hightower is not in King's Landing, but Hustle up the Red Keep just didn't have the right mojo. 
> 
> Mild Smut and Badass Sansa in this chapter

_You can reduce me to tears with a single sigh_  
Every breath that you take  
Any sound that you make, is a whisper in my ear  
I could give up all my life for just one kiss  
I would surely die if you dismiss me from your love  
You take my breath away   (Queen, A Day At The Races)

**Don’t Stop Me Now (Jon)**

 A month later, and Jon thought that if the world stopped now, he would go a happy man.  Of course, what man wouldn’t be happy when he had Sansa Stark in his bed, and she had just screamed his name and other obscenities while her tight walls clenched around him like a vice causing him to lose the control when he desperately wanted to last longer.

 At least three days a week, they spent nights together. They both would have preferred more often, but were still exploring their new relationship and how it fit into the demands of work, Fire Academy, family, and just everyday life.

 “I would tell you to stop looking so smug Candidate Snow, but you just gave me three world-class orgasms, so you earned it.”

 They were lying on their sides facing each other in bed, and Jon gave Sansa a kiss on her forehead and then looked at her stunning, satiated face. He was sure all the longing he had for her showed on his face, but he didn’t care – and didn’t want to hide it any longer.

 “Did you know my lady, in the days of our ancestors that act you love so much was called the Lord’s Kiss, so perhaps it should be Lord Snow instead of Candidate,” he grinned devilishly.

 Sansa laughed, and hit him with her pillow.

 “Well, Lord Snow, perhaps later we can practice that particular royal protocol again later today. But for now, you need to get that excellent ass out of bed so that we can go train for our Hustle up the Hightower.”

 The Hustle was a charity stair climb, whose proceeds benefitted the Lung Association’s efforts to achieve healthy lungs and clean air for all. Every year KLFD had several teams that climbed in order to raise money for the event; this year, Jon, Sansa, Talisa, and Tormond had formed a team.

 Jon was team captain, and in charge of training to ensure that they would all be ready to climb the 94 flights. Jon’s experience climbing the stairs at the wall, combined with his expertise at KLFD’s Physical Fitness Performance Sequence rendered him the best coach for the group. Jon had named his team “The Queensguard” in honor of both Sansas – the legendary ruler and his current lady.

 Although Sansa groaned about the drills initially, she appreciated the improvement it yielded in both her exercise capacity – and her sex life.

 Jon’s team worked out three times a week in the month prior to the climb. He and Sansa had started to work out by themselves. However, watching her sexy-as-hell ass climb an empty stairwell had distracted him for working towards clean air; and led to him dragging her into a doorway and showing her exactly what had been on his mind while watching her.

 After that, they only practiced in their team with Talisa and Tormond. Jon would urge them all to continue when they felt like stopping, and remind them of the worthy cause at the end of the climb.

 Robb would be on site, cheering them on as an official for KLFD, and Jaime was in charge of the medical team that would be stationed throughout the stairwells in case the climbers needed assistance.

 Sansa and Talisa had been part of the medical team in the past, but had decided to climb this year. The two women, along with Tormond also participated in Incident Command training with Jaime as part of their respective roles in EMS. They had learned about Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START), and what the various categories of Black (deceased or imminent), Red (immediate), Yellow (delayed), and Green (minor) meant.

 Jaime cautioned the team that they might have to care for some of the KLFD personnel if the event included a fire; “Sometimes firefighters will stay in the fire too long, even after their tanks get low on oxygen. They want to help, they want to be heroes, and so they sometimes don’t remember to care for themselves. I have had to intubate too many firemen who got too hot.”

 It was a dire, but realistic warning.

 One night after medical training, the trio met Robb out for a pint.   When they were seated at a table, Jaime and Brienne walked past them; Jon and Tormond had to resist the urge to stand at attention in a public place.

 “Chief Stark, Dr. Stark, good evening,” Jaime nodded. “Candidates Snow and Giantsbane. And as always the lovely Sansa. You know Snow, it baffles me how you managed to get so far out of your league as the breathtaking Lady Stark. You were always so tongue tied around her.”

 “Happy to report there are no problems with his tongue now,” quipped Sansa.

 “Sansa!” Horrified groans came from both Jon and Robb at the same time.

 Jaime just threw his head back and laughed, “Like I said, way out of your league.” He and Brienne moved on to a table of their own. Brienne smiled at her snarky husband and his own breathtaking, bedroom green eyes.

 

  **Save Me (Sansa)**

The day of the climb arrived and The Queensguard gathered in the lobby of the Hightower.

 Robb handed Talisa a radio to keep with her. “We will be on frequency 486, so if you feel short of breath, anyone in the group gets injured, or you need any assistance, just let us know and Jaime and I will come to help.”

 Since Talisa was carrying the radio, Sansa decided to carry a small pack of medical supplies – just in case. She refused to have anyone call it a fanny pack, because that was so 1990’s. She packed a small amount of supplies such as gloves, gauze, tape, alcohol wipes, an elastic bandage, and an angiocath – just in case. Sansa had loved reading _The House of God_ earlier in her nursing career, and held to the Fat Man’s adage: “There is no body cavity that cannot be reached with a #14G needle and a good strong arm.”

 “Snow, I am glad you’re taking the lead and Tormond anchor – that way I don’t have to wonder if you are staring at both my sister AND my wife’s asses as you go up the stairs.”

 Talisa laughed, “So me staring at his fine ass is okay?”

 “Yes, because if it makes you frisky, then I will just benefit later.”

 “Ha – after this climb, you’ll be lucky if I have any energy left.”

“It’s okay, then you can just lay back and let me take care of you like a good Lord should.”

 “Robb – PG please, I am begging you,” chimed Sansa.

 “Pay back sis, pay back.”

 The climb started with instructions from the organizers:

  * _The stairs turn to the left; so passing is done on your right._
  * _The start times are staggered at fifteen-second intervals, so make sure your team is in place for your designated time._
  * _Medical staff are stationed throughout the stairwells and at the Finish Line if assistance is needed._
  * _Stay hydrated._
  * _Thank you for your efforts today in helping our goal of giving everyone healthy lungs and clean air_.



 The Queensguard started up the 94 flights.

 Around flight 24, Sansa realized how grateful she was that Jon had trained them so well. The Queensguard had decided that since it was their first time as a team, they weren’t going to try for the best speed, just a respectable time that would honor KLFD. It was quite different for Sansa being on the climbing side instead of the caretaking side.

 Her past experience as a nurse on the medical team had been dealing with sprained ankles or knees, blisters from novice “climbers” who decided to wear new shoes for the event, and the occasional call for oxygen and transport when someone became short of breath or developed chest pain. Many of the participants climbed in tribute for a sick or deceased loved one; when they were forced to stop due to illness or injury, it was a sever disappointment to them. So, in addition to providing the medical care, part of the team’s job was to ensure the participants that their contribution mattered.

 When the Queensguard arrived at flight 42, the saw Jaime. This was the halfway point; where there was a second starting area for some of the participants who only wanted to do half of the climb.

 “How’s that breathing going Snow?” Jaime laughed. “Do you need me to get the stair chair to take you the rest of the way?”

 Since he was a candidate, Jon wisely stopped himself from telling Jaime to fuck off.

 Just as Sansa was about to respond with a snarky comment about her boyfriend’s stamina, they heard a commotion from higher up in the stairwell.

 “There is smoke coming from under that door.”  

 “Activate the fire alarm.”

 “Should we try to see how bad it is to let the fire department know what they are dealing with?”

 Jaime dashed up the stairs ahead of Jon, as he had not just climbed 42 flights and could move the fastest. He fired out a chain of commands:

“DO NOT OPEN THAT DOOR! “

“Talisa, get on the radio to Robb and tell him we need a crew in turnout gear up here.”

“Snow – get the participants heading down the stairs and make sure no one else comes up without gear on.”

“Sansa, Tormond, alert the medical team that we may have smoke-related injuries and to set up START triage downstairs just in case.”

 Sansa and Tormond stayed on the landing, and Jon started to climb up the next flight to assist some of the other climbers. Unfortunately a panicked participant shaped like a linebacker came running down at full speed; he knocked Jon and three other climbers down most of the flight of steps, and landed on Jon’s ribcage.

 One of the fallen climbers had a gaping wound on her forehead; so when Talisa got off the radio, she went over to assess the damage and control the bleeding with some gauze. Tormond was checking out the other climbers, while Sansa looked Jon over.

 “My ribs hurt princess.” Jon grimaced as Sansa palpated his right ribcage.

 “I think you have a couple of broken ribs Jon. We will need to get you evaluated by the team.”

 The woman with the cut fainted at the site of her own blood, so Talisa asked Tormond to get her a stair chair to transport the woman down the stairs. If there was a fire upstairs, it was not safe to use the elevator.

 “Sansa – it hurts to breath. I don’t feel right.” Jon was usually so stoic, so Sansa knew it was a bad sign that he was complaining.

 When Sansa examined his chest, she saw that the right side of his chest was not moving the same as his left; Jon had become pale; and his breathing was labored.

 “Jon, I think that the broken rib punctured your lung, and now there is air in your chest. I need to put a needle into your chest so that it does not collapse both of your lungs.”

 Jon nodded, “I trust you completely Sansa.”

 Sansa took the gloves, alcohol wipes and 14G angiocath out of her bag. She wiped Jon’s chest with alcohol, used the glove to make a flutter valve on the angiocath, and got ready to insert.

 As she looked down at Jon’s chest, Sansa prepped mentally in her head with training from so many trauma lectures.   _I_ _nsert the needle into the second intercostal space at a 90-degree angle to the chest, just over the third rib._ _There are blood vessels running along the bottom of the ribs. Ensure the needle is closer to the top margin of the lower rib in the intercostal space. This will prevent these vessels from being damaged._

However, no trauma lecture or work in the ED could prepare Sansa for having to perform this life-saving procedure on the man she realized she had loved for most of her life.

 As she inserted the needle, Sansa heard a whoosh of air; and with that audible release of air from Jon’s chest, Sansa released the breath that she did not realize she had been holding.

 Jon looked up at her; “I always knew you took my breath away Sansa, but never knew that one day you would literally give it back to me.”

 His breathing was better, and Sansa looked at him through her tears, “I love you Jon Snow, losing you would make me stop breathing.”

 Jon coughed out a grin “Not how I pictured us first declaring our love for each other, but maybe typical for first responders? I love you too Princess, so much.”

 “Well, I guess we know who gets the first chair down,” Tormond interjected as he came back and saw the needle in Jon’s chest. “The kneeler is awake now, and she can wait for the next chariot.”

 Talisa nodded at Tormond and Sansa, “I will stay and watch her, you two get Jon downstairs.”

 Two more members of the medical team arrived with the stair chair and strapped Jon into it.

 As they started down the first of 42 flights, they heard an unmistakable, explosive roar of fire from up the stairwell.

_“BACKDRAFT.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to avoid too much medical jargon, but couldn't write it without some. So sharing a couple of links 
> 
> Jon's lung problem: tension pneumothorax and needled decompression https://www.ems1.com/ems-products/medical-equipment/airway-management/articles/957467-Tension-Pneumothorax-Identification-and-treatment/
> 
> Backdraft - for those who did not see the movie: https://www.firerescue1.com/firefighter-training/articles/198367018-Signs-of-backdraft-and-how-firefighters-can-identify-them/


	3. The Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The angst is real dear reader(s). This chapter was inspired by actual events.
> 
> Fair warning, major character death - so stop reading if it will make you too sad.

_So please don't go, don't leave me here all by myself_   
_I get ever so lonely from time to time_   
_I will find you anywhere you go, I'll be right behind you_   
_Right until the ends of the earth_   
_I'll get no sleep until I find you_   
_To tell you that you just take my breath away (Queen, A Day At The Races)_

 

**Love of My Life (Jon)**

Sansa and Tormond maneuvered Jon down the remaining flights on the stair chair and then laid him down on a red tarp on the lobby floor.  The needle that Sansa had inserted was still in his chest, they placed an oxygen mask on his face, and Tormond started two intravenous (IV) lines as a precautionary measure.

  Jon looked around and noticed that the green, yellow and black tarps were laid out as well. Although Jon’s training as a firefighter had taught him that it was a safe structure, it seemed somewhat surreal that they were staged in the lobby of the Hightower.

 There were a couple people sitting on the green tarp with what looked like minor cuts or contusions and someone was assisting them. 

 The yellow tarp had people lying down and paramedics were starting IV’s they looked to have red burns on their arms or legs and some were forming blisters. 

 Jon noticed that on the black tarp, there was one body with a sheet draped over it. 

 Jon had been alone on the red tarp, but then two paramedics laid someone down next to him and he heard Sansa take a gasping breath. 

 “Jaime.”

 Jaime’s face was badly burned, with soot around his mouth and nose and he was coughing up blood.  Jon looked at the injured Deputy Chief Paramedic and noticed that his arms and legs were charred, the tissue shades of black and grey. 

 “Hello Lady Stark,” Jaime said to Sansa.  “You know that I should be on the black tarp.  I have over 90% burns, _and_ I should be there just getting morphine while you take care of those who will benefit from your care". 

 He coughed again: "The bitch of it is that I don’t feel too much pain.” 

 Sansa replied: “Jaime, you know that we have to transport you, it would be too hard on all of your crew to see you on the black tarp – they need to be able to focus. We will transport you first so that we can take care of everyone like you trained us in incident command class.”

 Sansa took Jaime’s hand while she placed on oxygen mask on his face and Tormond looked for a place to start an IV.  “Try my left foot – it is the only place where I can feel any pain, so there may be something there”. 

 Talisa entered the lobby with two patients she had escorted down the stairs; after she had led them to the green tarp, she came to assist with Jaime’s care.

 “Jaime, your airway is too burned and sooty, I am going to need to insert a tube so that you can keep breathing, “ Talisa told him.

 “Doc, it will only be temporary – we both know that.”

 “Jaime, Brienne deserves to be able to hold your hand and tell you how much she loves you at least one more time. Please let me do this, so that I can give her that moment.”

 Tears filled Jaime’s green eyes as he nodded his agreement.

 “Doc, I tease the Dolt from the Northside about Sansa taking his breath away – now you are going to take mine,” Jaime joked; and his laugh ended with a sooty cough.

  Jaime looked up at Sansa and removed the oxygen mask from his face for one last time. “Lady Stark, you are a real angel.  Promise me something: you make sure to tell Brienne how much I love her and that I am the luckiest damn bastard in the world to have met, loved and married her. My world began on the day I rescued that maiden”.

 Brilliant green met crystalline blue: “I promise Jaime – she will hear your words, your name will live on through your children, and we will all remember you together.”

 “Always.”

 Jaime nodded, replaced his mask, and closed his eyes while Tormond inserted an IV into his foot.

 Talisa prepped the intubation equipment; took steadying breaths and forced any trace of tears from her eyes. She administered the drugs that would relax Jaime and allow her to insert the tube, and then deftly inserted the tube into his trachea.

 More paramedics came and lifted Jaime onto a cot to wheel him into the ambulance and take him away. 

 As they wheeled Jaime away, Jon saw a lone tear escape from Sansa’s crystalline blue eye – and the sight pierced his chest more acutely than the needle that Sansa had inserted earlier. 

  _"_ Princess - I heard all that over the radio, and I wish I could be with you right now and give you both a hug, but we will all honor Jaime by taking care of those who need us.” Robb’s heart-struck voice came over Talisa’s radio.

 Sansa took Jon’s hand, “I want to stay with you and go to the hospital with you, but...”

 “Go join Robb. Go for me, go for Jaime, go for all of those who need you more than I do right now.”

 Sansa nodded, and left to join her brother in continuing to fight the fire, and rescue the rest of the hustlers.

 Jon was dumbstruck.

 When he first met Sansa, he had been dazzled by her pretty blue eyes and her kissed-by-fire hair; when he climbed the stairs behind her, he had been impressed by her shapely ass; when she saved his life by sticking a needle in his chest, he had been in awe of her knowledge and ability to function under pressure; when he heard her promise to a dying friend and saw her turn to care for the other victims of the fire, he realized he was irrevocably in love with a true hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I deliberately made Sansa's words the antithesis of her words to Ramsey - because Jaime. 
> 
> My heart breaks with the rest of yours, as it does every time I remember fallen heroes I have known. And everyday heroes who persist despite the heartbreak. 
> 
> START triage https://chemm.nlm.nih.gov/startadult.htm


	4. Moving On

_I will find you anywhere you go_   
_Right until the ends of the earth_   
_I'll get no sleep until I find you_   
_To tell you when I've found you_   
_...I love you (Queen, A Day At The Races)_

**The Show Must Go On (Sansa)**

 Jon received a chest tube in the ED and was monitored in the intensive care unit overnight. When he was discharged a few days later, he went to stay at Sansa’s apartment, as neither one of them was willing to be separated after what they had gone through. Jaime’s loss haunted them all.

 Robb and Talisa arrived at Sansa’s so that they all could ride together to Jaime’s wake.

 “I’ve decided my specialty for residency,” Talisa announced. “I thought briefly about emergency medicine, because I felt useful knowing what to do when Jaime or any of the other people got hurt. But I am going into rehab medicine. I want to help people long term, to help them regain the most functionality they can. So that they can lead productive lives – just like Jaime chose to do when he got hurt. I want to work on recovery, not just rescue.”

 “I think that is great,” Sansa said. “It will give us someone we know and trust to hand off our wounded firefighters and others who need your help.”

 Jon was beyond words, so he just hugged Talisa to show his approval.

 When the group arrived at the wake, Sansa went straight over to hug her father, the Commissioner. It was a tribute to Jaime that all of the hierarchy of KLFD showed up; and also Mayor Arthur Dayne, who had been one of Jaime’s idols growing up.

 After the official wake hours at the funeral parlor, the group crossed the street to Paddy’s – the unofficial KLFD bar.

 Ned raised his glass, “To Deputy Chief Paramedic Lannister, he was a damn fine paramedic, a hell of an educator, and a valued member of the company. More importantly, he was a devoted father to Tommen and Myrcella, and an adoring husband to his wife Brienne.”

 “Jaime lost his life by rescuing the civilians who were going to get hurt by the backdraft. Because of his actions, they sustained only minimal burns and they all live. Although I know we would all rather have a live comrade than a missing hero, we honor his name and his bravery. So raise your glass to Chief Lannister.”

 “To Jaime!”

 Ned started the traditional blessing, and the rest of the company joined in:

“May the road rise to meet you,  
may the wind be ever at your back.  
May the sun shine warm upon your face,  
and the rains fall soft upon your fields.  
And until we meet again,  
may God hold you in the palm of his hand.”

 The sound of the gathered company, their families, and the civilians whom Jaime had saved all saying the blessing in unison nearly brought Sansa to her knees.

 Tears streamed down most of the faces in the bar.

 “He was a good guy - even for a south sider.”

 “Chief taught me everything I know about managing an Incident Command Scene.”

 “He taught me everything I know about avoiding a hangover.”

 Sansa smiled as she listened to the tributes, which flowed more freely along with the Jameson’s.

 Sansa stood next to Brienne just holding her by the shoulders, as she didn’t think there were adequate words for the pain. She had delivered Jaime’s message as promised, and she would continue to support Brienne and the children in any way she could.

 “Now I now what they mean when they say what is the difference between a KLFD wedding and a KLFD wake: there is one less drunk at the wake. ”

 Sansa turned ready to scold the idiot firefighter who made the comment, but was stopped by the sound of Brienne laughing.

 “That is just the sort of snarky comment my Jaime would have made, and I am sure that he appreciates the humor, I know that I do.” Brienne raised her glass, “To my green eyed boy who always took my breath away, I know that you will be waiting for me on the other side with a gleam in your eye and love in your heart.”

 “To Jaime.”

 

 

_______________________________________________________

 

 

Later that night, Jon held Sansa in her bed.

 “Jon, make love to me.”

 “I know that it may seem disrespectful to Jaime, that it is too soon, but I just want to be with you. To know that we are alive and in love and savor this moment, as this can be taken from us without warning.”

 Jon smiled at Sansa as he eased into her, “I am pretty sure that Jaime would approve, he might have a snarky comment, but he would definitely approve.”

 As the lay next to each other later on, Sansa grinned, “We just witnessed people at their finest, and tomorrow we may go back to trivial ambulance and fire calls, but I want to share the wonder of this moment with you. I love you Jon.”

 “You still take my breath away Sansa, you probably always will. There are no guarantees in life. For all the days that I draw breath, I want to share them with you. I love you Sansa.”

 “Marry me.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Struggled with this one, but it is a struggle to move on after such a loss. I am not sure there is a right way.

**Author's Note:**

> So - the Others. I hesitated leaving that part in, because they will not show up during this story. But somehow they demanded that I leave them in. Inspired by the words of Galadriel from LOTR " and some things that should have not been forgotten were lost.
> 
> The As you wish line comes of course from the Princess Bride


End file.
